Mage Slayer
by For the Love of Nalu
Summary: A typical day in Fairy Tail, and Team Natsu has a perfect mission to set off on that Lucy's especially excited about. (Quite a lot of reward money.) But this request is different. You've heard of dragon slayers, god slayers, and even devil slayers, but an entirely new opponent is thrown their way as they face a deadly mage slayer.
1. Chapter 1

"Put some pants on, pervert."

These had been the first words Lucy heard upon walking into the guild that fine day. The walk to Fairy Tail had been more than pleasant; the sun had been shining brightly, giving her a quite enjoyable sense of warmth, and in passing by the market, multiple people had recognized her and given her jubilant smiles she was more than eager to return. Her light-hearted grin had followed her the rest of the way to the building, and these words thrown out of the mouth of the short-tempered, pink-haired boy in front of her had only added to her feeling of giddiness. Another usual day in Fairy Tail, and Lucy had decided long ago that she wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

"Yo, Luce!" Said boy bounced over to her from one of the wooden tables, returning her smile with interest. "You look happy today."

"Hey, Natsu," she greeted with a contented sigh. "It's been a good day so far."

"Aye!" A certain flying cat had appeared at her chest, nearly toppling her over from the force of his hug. Happy looked up at her, an enormous beam plastered on his face. "Mira just promised me a heap load of fish after today's mission, so I agree with that!"

The blonde patted the cat on his furry blue head before waving at the raven-haired man who was lacking a pair of pants and the cherry-haired woman who was sitting beside him and giving him quite a dangerous look. Gray smiled and waved back before hastily sliding back into his trousers, and Erza nodded in greeting with her usual expression of determination regarding the request she had picked out for Team Natsu this day, holding the paper out to Lucy for her to look over.

Lucy graciously accepted the request and began to read.

 **HELP NEEDED**

 **STOP THIS MAGE**

 **This demon mage has been terrorizing the villages on the outskirts of the boundary forrest for far too long. She sucks magic from her victims and turns it into energy to replenish her own magic, which is an unknown yet powerful ability that has proved to be incredibly dangerous. MDS (Magic Deficiency Syndrome) has ensued for all victims; many dead, countless injured, possibly more to come if this she-mage is not stopped _IMMEDIATELY._**

 **WARNING: Replenishable magic; possible disability as a side-effect of any encounter; VERY powerful.**

 **Reward: 7,000,000 Jewels**

Lucy's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she read the reward. Seven million? _Seven million!?_ That was enough jewels to cover her rent for a hundred months, more than three entire years! She could practically feel her eyeballs turning into dollar signs in her greed.

"Lucy, you're drooling."

She looked down at the cat who had spoken, still completely in shock, then to the red-haired mage who had chosen this particular mission.

"Wha… huh?" she inquired smartly.

Erza gave her a satisfied smile. "This would cover your rent for quite some time, no? I thought it would be perfect for Team Natsu; we all know how low you've been on cash lately."

She peered at Gray and Natsu, who were both giving her enormous grins. Her jaw was still hanging loose.

"You won't have to worry about losing the apartment anymore," her rosy-haired partner piped eagerly, his obsidian eyes sparkling.

"We all use your place enough anyway; it only seems fair the entire reward goes towards it," the ice mage added casually, trying to keep his cool, though Lucy knew him well enough by now to tell he was just as excited as Natsu.

"You guys..." Lucy started, her gleeful mood rising far higher than she ever thought possible, so much to the point where she felt the familiar stinging of her eyes welling with tears. "I don't know what to say! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She threw herself onto all three skilled mages, attempting to convey her absolute gratitude in an embrace.

"Let's get going, then!" Natsu bellowed, hugging her back. "I'm all fired up!"

They had set off immediately, as Erza hadn't wanted to waste any time in ridding Magnolia of such a criminal. Of course, the entire walk to the boundary forest, which took the entire day, consisted of Natsu and Gray bickering behind Erza and Lucy, who occasionally exchanged irritated glances. The scarlet-haired mage carried her usual excess of luggage on a big cart that trailed behind her, while the Celestial Spirit mage carried only a backpack full of clothes slung upon one shoulder and her blue feline friend hovering above her other.

Lucy inhaled deeply through her nose, savoring the smell of cedar that reminded her of home. She looked to the sky that was already quite dark and seeming to get even inkier by the minute. Stars were beginning to peek their glimmering heads through the black curtain of night, winking at the blonde far below. A small smile lit up the girl's features as she was reminded of all her celestial friends who no doubt were watching over her. It gave her a great sense of comfort as she noted how happy she was in this moment, surrounded by her greatest friends in such a beautiful scenery.

A sudden hand on her shoulder jolted her out of her thoughts, and she froze in her step, her smile falling. She looked over to see a very grim-faced Natsu whose eyes were rapidly scanning the trees before them that were shrouded in shadow.

"Natsu?" Lucy spoke softly, fearing the worst to pop from the trees. It would definitely be difficult to fight anything in such darkness, and she really didn't want Natsu destroying all the beautiful foliage around them with his pyrotechnics.

The dragon-slayer seemed to have picked up on the danger of fighting in these conditions, as he didn't spontaneously combust and charge headlong into battle as he would have in possibly any other circumstance. He glanced at Lucy, and because she was so used to reading him without any words being said, she immediately inquired, "What is it, Natsu?"

By this time both Erza and Gray had stopped walking as well, watching Natsu for any signs of peril. The team had all learned to trust his dragon instincts; they had never failed him before.

"I can smell… something." The pink-haired boy knitted his eyebrows together, his face contorted in confusion as he took shallow sniffs of the air. "I don't know what it is exactly, but it doesn't seem like something we want to meet up with."

Erza took this into consideration for a moment, then nodded, wearing a somber expression. "Alright. Let's set up camp somewhere slightly away from this route. We can continue in the morning."

The three mages and the blue feline turned down a different path and walked for another ten or so minutes before the requip mage had decided where to set up camp. She looked at Lucy for approval, which she had quickly given, as the area was surrounded by sweet smelling trees and had a clearing in the canopies in which she could see hundreds of stars. Natsu got a fire going, and they all settled down around it, though not to sleep, as energy was still thrumming in each of the young mages' veins.

Natsu had still not relaxed, and Lucy couldn't help but peer at him worriedly every now and again. It seemed as though Gray had noticed a strange change is his rival friend too, and he and Lucy exchanged a concerned glance.

Erza, however, remained oblivious as she looked to the stars in awe, an uncharacteristically child-like look lighting up her face.

"Wow," the requip mage uttered. "Your magic is based off something really incredibly beautiful, Lucy."

The blonde was taken aback by the comment, but she smiled and began admiring the navy blue sky along with her friend. "Thank you. I never tire of looking at them."

Natsu, Gray, and Happy soon joined in at the stargazing, a silent sense of wonder emanating from the team.

Lucy looked back to the earth to find Natsu staring at her with a peculiar yet jubilant expression on his face. She instantly felt better to see his trademark grin back. They all definitely needed his optimism.

Erza let out a happy sigh, promptly said "Good night," and rolled over in her sleeping bag, still entirely clothed in her usual armour. She was snoring quite loudly in a matter of minutes.

The three remaining mages shared an incredulous look and snickered as quietly as they could in fear of waking the adorable beast before also turning in, knowing they would need all the sleep they could get for the upcoming capture of the apparently dangerous criminal.

And for Lucy, waking up had never been so incredibly painful and disorienting. As soon as her eyes had opened, she let out a gasp of agony that sounded more like a whimper, feeling as though her skull were collapsing in on itself. Her limbs felt as heavy as the weights Natsu had bought and stored in her apartment, and her vision was incredibly blurred, though she could tell it was still dark out.

She heard a garbled sentence being uttered a small ways away from her, and she attempted to shift her body so she could see the person speaking, but was unable to due to the feeling of being electrocuted. She let out a small scream and felt her eyes welling with frustrated and pained tears.

A blur of pink, and she heard someone's muddled speech again, though she was too perplexed to understand it. Someone grabbed her forearm and began to pull her out of her prone position, but the pain was unbearable and she growled at whoever's hand was on her. She was dropped back down, and this time she didn't even have time to yelp as she immediately went unconscious.

"...the hell is going on?!"

"Don't touch her, Natsu! You'll only hurt her again." Lucy stirred at Erza's calm yet concerned voice.

"Hey, she's waking up!" Gray's obviously bewildered voice sent shock waves through the blonde's head.

"Give her space!"

Lucy only had the strength to halfway lift her eyelids, her body still aching and her hands shaking. All three of her teammates and Happy were crowded around her, faces the very picture of worry. She was terrified as to what in the name of Mavis was going on, but she couldn't begin yelling to find out, as she was immobilized.

"Head...hurts…" she managed to get out.

Erza clenched her jaw, brows furrowing. "I'm not certain, Lucy, but I think the mage we're after might have been by here. Natsu smelled something - or someone - funny around here a little bit after you woke up."

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, and I think she's still close-by. I'm still picking up her scent pretty strongly."

"You… think…?" Lucy croaked, unable to ask what she had intended to.

Gray piped up, understanding what she had been about to inquire about. His voice was somber. "It looks like she drained your magic. You're showing all the symptoms of Magic Deficiency Syndrome."

Fear shot through Lucy; she didn't really know what MDS was besides the basics, but she knew it was fairly dangerous. She had seen Master Makarov nearly killed because of the strange disorder, but she never thought she would ever have to deal with such a horror.

"Only… me?" It was Natsu's turn to clench his jaw as he nodded, obviously as oblivious as she was when it came to the question of why only Lucy had been drained.

"I can't yet drain too many people at a time."

Everyone but Lucy jerked to face the small, almost shy-sounding voice that came from the trees behind them, though when she eventually (and very slowly) turned her head to see, she was utterly bewildered at the person who had spoken.

Even in such darkness, Lucy could make out a woman - or rather, a girl - perched atop a branch belonging to one of the enormous trees surrounding them. She was a cute thing that reminded Lucy a bit of Wendy, though she looked slightly older. Her dark hair fell in wild curls around her waist, bits of twigs and leaves poking out of it as though she hadn't left the forest in quite some time, and her eyes were dark yet bright with wonder. Lucy noted the girl's peculiar teeth that reminder her of Natsu's, her canines sharp and protruding from her lips.

The girl leapt to the ground, and the movement alone was enough to have Erza requip twin swords, Natsu ignite his clenched fists in flame, and Gray take a defensive stance over Lucy's still horizontal body, hands ready for Ice Make. Happy hovered by Natsu, a determined look on his feline face.

If the girl was startled at all by such actions, she didn't show it, but she didn't move closer to the team either. She simply frowned, seemingly confused.

"No fair; I don't have all of your magic yet, only the key-holder's. I want to fight her instead."

"Like hell," Natsu snarled.

"Are you the mage who's been draining their victims' magic?" Erza's face was incredibly serious and just as angry as she faced the mysterious girl. Lucy actually felt bad for her assailant for having to face such a wrath.

The girl only nodded, unfazed by the looks she was getting from the mages before her. "My name's Alea." She looked straight at Lucy, which made the latter girl's skin crawl. "Your magic was very tasty."

At this, all of Team Natsu froze, bewildered by what Alea had just said.

"Did she just say…?" Gray started.

Lucy had never been much of a battle-oriented person, but even she had to admit she was possibly smarter than Erza, Gray, Natsu, and Happy put together, which made her quite useful in situations where brains were needed more than brawn. Basically, in situations such as these. As much as it made her brain hurt, Lucy thought hard and came to a dangerous conclusion.

"Stand back, guys!" Lucy yelped, her throat on fire from just the small action of speaking. "No one use any magic at all."

Her team all looks to her in confusion, though they still stayed focused on the dark-haired girl before them.

"What is it, Luce?" Natsu asked grimly.

"She's like you," Lucy tried explaining, "only instead of fire, she eats magic."

Natsu turned his full attention to his blonde partner then, a confused and stony look blazing in his eyes.

"Lucy," Erza fists were clenched around her weapons tightly, knowing her teammate to be onto something but not looking forward to the inevitably upcoming bad news. "What are you talking about?"

Lucy could feel herself trembling, staring warily at the girl whose face remained eerily stoic. Before the celestial mage could wheeze out another sentence, however, Alea visibly ran her tongue across her honed teeth, gave a small, shy smile, and spoke.

"My name is Alea Falcone, and I'm the all-elemental mage slayer."


	2. Chapter 2

Lucy noticed Natsu's expression first. He was, of course, the most experienced and knowledgeable on the ancient slayer magic of all his teammates, having been taught the magic at such a young age. It wasn't too unexpected when she saw the flames on both his arms crawl so high as to reach his shoulders, his face set in an expression Lucy hadn't seen very often. He was angry, yes, but he was also staring at the mage slayer with a certain intensity that allowed Lucy to realize just how tough this opponent was. She never doubted Natsu's instincts, especially when it came to battle.

A sudden feeling of shame hit Lucy as she noticed she was the only member of the team not standing and ready to fight. She couldn't allow that. No matter how hurt or physically and magically drained she was, she wouldn't allow herself to sit by and watch as her friends and teammates fought with all their might. She had had enough of people calling her weak.

She clenched her jaw as she stood, focusing all the little energy she had left on not crying out in agony. Her entire body throbbed, feeling as though it had just been hit by a train, but the worst part of the experience was the feeling that a part of her was hollow, like a part of her soul had up and walked away. She didn't feel quite like herself.

Natsu glanced at her, his gaze softening the tiniest bit. "Luce, just rest for now and focus on keeping your energy up. We got this."

Lucy felt a twinge of annoyance at these words, though she made sure to smile as wide as she could. "No way am I letting you guys fight alone. We're a team, right?" The corners of Natsu's mouth lifted slightly. "Besides, I feel a lot better." She hoped no one would be able to see through her lie.

"That's only because I let you keep some of your magic," Alea pouted. All attention returned to her. "You'd be totally dead if I didn't."

In that exact moment, Lucy hadn't expected Natsu, Gray, and Erza to all rush at the girl at full speed, their bodies tensed and their faces promising all kinds of danger for their challenger. She hadn't even had time to yelp a quick "No!" before Erza had reached her, already fully equipped into her Purgatory Armor. She swung her black, spiked mace with a harsh yell of effort, bringing the weapon down so hard and fast Lucy was sure all the trees in the forest would fall over from the sheer strength of the attack.

Instead, in the blink of an eye, Erza was completely stripped of the dangerous-looking armor, buck naked in front of everyone while her body remained in a menacing stance above her foe. She fell harmlessly to the ground, either unaware or uncaring that she had no clothes on, her face stuck dumb as she watched the mage slayer before her.

Alea's stomach had grown and her head was tilted back, her face scrunched up as she seemed to literally _suck_ the armor from Erza's skin. The position she held as she seemingly ate Erza's magic reminded Lucy of Natsu when he sucked up fire to replenish his magic energy. The blonde simply stared, utterly baffled at this turn of events.

Natsu and Gray had finally reached the girl then, at exactly the same time, but before their perfectly synchronized punches could reach the little devil, she arched her back farther than Lucy would have ever thought to be possible by an ordinary human, making the boys miss and hit the tree behind her as she jumped forward, looking pleased with her ability to outsmart the mages.

Alea turned to Erza then, incredibly calm. "Your magic tastes a bit bitter, but I liked the power behind it. I can tell you must be an impressive mage."

The scarlet-haired woman simply requiped into her usual Heart Kreuz armor, taking several steps back from the girl while looking as though she had just been defiled.

"You guys!" Lucy yelled to her teammates. She didn't think they realized the enormity of the situation, and she didn't want her friends to end up like her or worse. "She literally _eats_ all magic and uses it for herself to attack. You can't fight her like that." She glanced nervously at the horizon that was beginning to show the very first rays of the sun, giving the dark sky an eerie glow. Fighting with barely any light was not at all favorable.

Lucy's hand flew to her hip in that instance, impulse getting the better of her as she pulled out her whip and readied herself to attack; the good thing about her weapon was that she could continue using it even after she had run out of magic, as her lovely Fleuve d'étoiles didn't require magic to whip the sense into her opponent.

In seeing the blonde's attempt to fight, Alea looked absolutely gleeful and wasted no time in sprinting for Lucy, a demented grin spread across her face.

Lucy managed to block Alea's first several attacks with her hands, as the girl simply began throwing punches and kicks, though they were thrown with such precision and strength that Lucy found it astonishing she was able to stop them at all. Each blow sent a shock wave through Lucy, making her body ache more and more, and she eventually fell to one knee in her exhaustion.

It was then that Alea decided to deliver the worst of her kicks. Lucy's eyes barely had time to register the girl's leg transforming into the giant mace belonging to Erza's Purgatory Armor before her entire body was flung a distance of what seemed like an entire mile from where she had fallen.

She couldn't breathe. The mace had hit her right in the stomach, and such a strong blow left her completely without air, no matter how hard she gasped for breath. Tears stung her eyes once more; Lucy had never, in all her years in Fairy Tail, expected to ever be hit by Erza's magic, though she sometimes contemplated just how much it would hurt. Now, having borne the brunt of it, she had newfound sympathy for anyone who had ever gone up against her demon-like friend, though she had a feeling this hit hadn't even given her a taste of the requip mage's true power. She felt herself beginning to convulse in shock and pain.

"Lucy!" she heard Natsu roar from where the original battle was taking place. He sounded far away; perhaps Alea's kick had sent her flying farther than she had thought.

 _Get up, get up_. Lucy gritted her teeth, trying her hardest to get even the smallest bit of oxygen back in her body, and picked herself up off the ground for the second time that day. Her vision was growing blurry yet again, but she forced herself to stay focused. She realized she had lost her whip somewhere along the line of the skirmish she had with the mage slayer, and looked around frantically before deciding with the feeling of her heart dropping into her stomach that she had dropped it.

"In case you were wondering," the sound of Alea's voice directly behind her made Lucy jump and let out a small shriek of surprise, "the reason I was only able to drain your magic and not your friends' was because you have holder magic. Your items hold most of your magic for you, which makes it easier to extract. I'm not advanced enough yet to eat the magic right out of people's bodies; they usually have to physically show it to me first, like your armored friend did."

Lucy took a defensive stance, looking stubbornly at the girl. She couldn't let her friends down, and she most certainly was not about to let their magic be drained from their bodies. She needed to help get rid of the little monster, with magic or without.

Though she could hear her breaths coming out in small, shallow wheezes, she decided her best chance of surviving this duel was with herself on the defence, so she waited for the mage slayer to make the first move.

Alea leapt forward, her body glowing with a soft light, and one of her hands suddenly pulled an enormous battle axe out of thin air, ready to strike. Lucy's anger at seeing Taurus's personal weapon being used by a complete stranger gave her the strength and agility to be able to dash to the side before the axe could touch her.

Another blink of an eye, and Alea was still glowing, but she now carried a bow and arrow Lucy knew belonged to Sagittarius. The sense of being deeply violated surged through the celestial mage, and she managed to evade the three arrows being shot at her with excellent aim by the mage slayer.

Next was Cancer's deadly scissors, materializing in Alea's hands in less than a millisecond. She had been able to dodge the girl's previous attacks because Taurus's axe had made Alea slow and Sagittarius's arrows had been shot at such a far distance. However, Cancer's speed matched with his close-range battle strategy gave Lucy a strong disadvantage.

Alea moved so fast she simply looked like a blur, and before she knew it, Lucy was knocked off her feet yet again, feeling her skin being sliced in countless places. She let out a gasp as she hit the ground, for the first time wondering irritably why Natsu hadn't arrived yet. Surely, with his heightened sense of smell and hearing, he should have already been able to find her in this forest?

Lucy let out a scream as she felt a weight pressing down on her chest, and she looked up to see Alea's smiling face bearing down on her. Her fists now possessed the impossibly bright lights that belonged to Leo, and Lucy knew she was done for. Loke was her strongest spirit, and there was no way she could dodge this upcoming attack with the mage slayer directly on top of her.

Alea's features suddenly softened as she peered at the helpless mage below her. When she wasn't twisting her face psychotically, the mage slayer looked quite innocent. Lucy couldn't understand why or how such a young girl had taken up the sport of murdering innocent mages. She supposed it was simply in her instincts, just like Natsu's instincts told him to slay dragons, only the girl's slaying ability was unfortunately geared towards people.

Lucy grimaced suddenly as Alea placed her hands roughly at her throat, and she could feel Leo's magic burning through her skin. The mage slayer seemed a bit too calm for someone who was about to kill someone.

"Hello there, mage," the girl hissed, sending shivers down Lucy's spine. "Are you prepared to die?"


	3. Chapter 3

Lucy Heartfilia had complete faith in her best friend Natsu Dragneel, and she was not at all surprised when the mage slayer sitting atop her chest was knocked off her just as quickly as she had pounced on.

She could feel the heat radiating from the dragon slayer who appeared in front of her, acting as a barrier between Lucy and her attacker. Lucy's ears picked up on the raggedness of his breathing that resulted from the mad dash through the forest to his blonde partner's aid.

"If you think I'm about to let something like _that_ happen again," Natsu growled at Alea, his voice carrying an ominous undertone, "you've got another thing coming to you, and it ain't gonna be pretty."

Lucy's mind immediately raced to the memory of her future self's death, and her heart sank. She knew how Natsu had taken it back then, and from the many times he tossed and turned in his sleep, muttering her name and begging her not to die on him, she knew it still haunted him. She was never comfortable with the image that was etched in her mind of herself dying, but no one had been affected as harshly as Natsu and Happy.

"Lucy," the salmon-haired mage addressed her without taking his eyes off her assailant. "Sorry I'm late. I'll get rid of her fast so we can get you to Wendy to patch you up."

Lucy felt her lips raise in a soft smile. Natsu had the incredible ability of forcing his friends into staying optimistic even in the darkest of times. He made their current situation look like a piece of cake. Lucy knew how remarkably capable her partner was when it came to fighting, and all qualms she had about fighting the mage slayer vanished.

She heard a collision and a few muttered curses from the trees behind her and several seconds later, both Erza and Gray came crashing through the foliage, soon followed by Happy who flew right to Natsu, acquiring an adorable battle stance. Gray looked livid and ready to pound someone's skull in, and while Erza wore a similar expression on her face, she looked exhausted. Her encounter with Alea must have drained the requip mage more than Lucy originally thought. A flash of worry ran through Lucy's mind before she shoved it away, confidence in her friends surging through and replacing it.

Gray extended a hand to Lucy to help her up, but she hopped to her feet without taking it, ignoring the pain that shot through her. She wanted her friends to see the smile set on her face rather than the ragged condition her body was in. The ice mage smiled back before turning to Erza.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he inquired. Erza waved her hand dismissively, though she was panting. "If you're not good to fight, you could always leave it to me and Natsu. Y'know, the men of the team." Gray flexed his right bicep teasingly, and Erza gave a smile before straightening up, taking his displayed muscle in her hand and crushing it with her fingers. The man let out a yelp of pain, retracting his arm from the woman's grasp.

"Alright, I get the point," he said good-humoredly, and the two got into their fighting stances.

Natsu, Gray and Erza had known each other since they were all little, and they fought as a team plenty of times. They knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, and they knew exactly how to play off each other's actions until their opponent was face-down in the dirt. Lucy developed a deep trust in her three guildmates long ago, and seeing them team up against their single, small adversary left no trace of doubt in Lucy's mind regarding the mage slayer's downfall.

Alea hadn't moved an inch since being knocked off Lucy, though she was looking at the team with a sense of wonder.

"You know by now you can't use magic on me, right?" Alea reminded them softly, tilting her head slightly.

Even in looking at his back, Lucy knew Natsu was giving the girl his trademark grin. "Then we'll just have to use our fists to beat the magic out of you. It's not yours to keep anyways; it belongs to the people you sucked it out of." The disgust was evident in his voice.

"That's so primitive, fist fighting," Alea crooned. "Using magic to kill mages is much more fun."

The team collectively shuddered at the girl's morbid response, and this distraction allowed her the perfect opportunity to lunge forward and kick Natsu directly in the face. He grunted in pain and jumped away from the mage slayer's foot, holding his nose and looking at the girl in hatred. She gave him an innocent smile.

"Natsu!" Lucy and Erza shouted in unison, while Gray and Happy simply snickered.

"Oi, flame-brain!" Gray called. "That's very manly of you, getting beat up by a little girl. Can't wait to tell Elfman."

"Shut it, Popsicle!" Natsu shot back, turning to face him and apparently forgetting about the very deadly girl in front of him. "And put your damn clothes on!"

Gray looked down and cursed before sliding back into his shirt, but before he could come up with a retort, Erza roughly pushed him aside and raced toward Alea with incredible speed. She was just a blur of color, and Lucy realized she must be wearing her Flight Armor. No one had even seen her requip, she was that fast.

However, Alea was faster. Just as Erza's sword came bearing down on the girl, she miraculously escaped the blow by burrowing a deep hole in the ground and disappearing inside it. Virgo's magic. Lucy once again felt herself flush with anger at the sight of a stranger using her comrade's stolen magic.

She popped back to the surface again a little ways away from the requip mage, arching her back and lifting her head as she had previously done before eating Erza's magic, but she was too late. Erza had apparently foreseen this action and darted away, her cheetah-print armor allowing her to evade the girl's attempt. Lucy grinned at her teammate's brilliant strategy. It didn't surprise her that Erza had already found a weakness in her opponent.

The scarlet-haired woman requiped once more, this time into her Black Wing Armor. Again with an amazing speed, she flew straight at Alea, her red and black blade extended and ready to strike.

Taurus's axe appeared in the Alea's hands before Erza reached her, but the woman saw this coming. She requiped a second weapon in her free hand, an axe as well, just milliseconds before their collision. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed through the forest. While Alea had managed to fend off the axe, she had left herself completely vulnerable against Erza's sword, and the force of the hit sent her flying directly into the tree that was several meters behind her.

Erza wasted no time in requiping yet again into her Heart Kreuz Armor, though instead of the usual sword it came with, an enormous hammer, twice as big as the mage wielding it, appeared in its place. She let out a yell of effort as she swung it, aiming for the tree Alea was now pressed against.

A heap of wool that looked suspiciously like cotton candy suddenly erupted just in front of the mage slayer, effectively blocking the hammer from crushing her body. As soon as the hammer hit, Alea took position and sucked it up as well as the Heart Kreuz armor, leaving Erza nude again.

Erza staggered from the loss of magic, but quickly requiped into a simple bath towel. Her teammates, who had been watching this exchange with an air of awe, dropped their jaws at her newest armor. Erza herself looked startled.

"Looks like that's all you can requip into for now," Alea said, patting her stomach from her recent meal. "You've used a lot of your magic already, and I've sucked a lot of it up too." Her body began to glow, and soon she was inexplicably wearing Erza's Heart Kreuz Armor, though she didn't have a weapon.

"Hey!" roared Natsu. His fists impulsively burst into flame as he scowled at the mage slayer who was now sporting his friend's armor. He hated seeing Erza unable to fight, Lucy knew. He had always looked up to the powerful mage, and watching her stumble around in nothing but a towel made not only him, but all her teammates angry.

He raced forward, ready to strike, as did Gray who wielded his ice cannon. Again, the pair of mages seemed to be unconsciously in sync. The canon was fired, shooting a great deal of ice towards the girl just as Natsu held his cupped hands in front of his mouth and bellowed "Fire Dragon's Roar!" which sent a large blast of flame careening towards the mage slayer.

When the dust that arose from the force of the attacks had cleared, Alea was not where she had stood a second earlier. Everyone looked to the sky to see the girl now wearing Erza's Black Wing Armor, and she beamed brightly before landing back on the earth. The girl got into her magic-eating stance again, sucking up what was left of the flame from Natsu's attack.

Lucy had expected the girl to immediately strike the team with her new dragon slayer magic, but instead, Alea froze on the spot, her eyes widening and her face the picture of complete shock.

Her hands shot to her throat, and Erza's armor suddenly disappeared from her bodu leaving her with her original tattered Natsu stared in astonishment as the girl began to cough and wheeze. When she regained her breath, she pointed at Natsu accusingly and opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, trying to find the words to say to him.

"I know that magic!" she sputtered, voice hoarse. Natsu simply stared, evidently as confused as his friends.

"Your magic…" Alea began again, her features now molding into what seemed to be fear. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry!"

"What are you talking about?" Natsu demanded, getting impatient with the girl. He was itching to fight her again; he hated stopping in the midst of battle.

The girl then dropped to her knees, making everyone around her take a step back warily. What was she about to do?

She assumed a position so that she looked like she was bowing to a king, her arms extended in front of her face that was kissing the earth.

"Please forgive me," she whispered, panic apparent in her voice, "master END."

 **Hi guys! I'm so excited for all the positive feedback I'm getting from this story. I'm going to try to update it every two days, so keep reading! Leave a review if you'd like a question answered or if you have any constructive criticism. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

It was as if, in that exact moment, time decided to stand completely still. Not a single breeze flitted through the trees, not a single bird dared to chirp, and not a single mage moved a muscle. Lucy stared with wide eyes at the now bowing mage slayer, her heart stopped in her chest and her knuckles turning white with the intensity in which she was digging her nails into her palms. Erza and Gray were dumbstruck, and Happy's wings popped out of sight due to his shock, allowing him to land on the ground by the feet of the human mages.

Natsu, on the other hand, didn't look nearly as surprised as his teammates. Rather, his face was set in an expression of dangerous anger, with just a hint of confusion flashing through his dark eyes. "What the hell," he growled, "did you just say?"

This made the bent Alea cower even more, and she was visibly trembling now. "I'm so sorry to anger you, Master END. I beg you-"

"Why are you calling me that?!" Everyone jumped at Natsu's sudden roar. His fists were once again showered in flame. "Explain what the hell you're talking about, or I swear to Mavis, I'll roast you so bad you won't be able to feel your-"

The girl shrieked loudly, scrambling up from her place on the floor. Even Natsu was startled when he saw her tear-stained cheeks and her eyes red in irritation from the constant flow of water. Her hands were shaking, as were her knees, and her lower lip was trembling in fright from the dragon slayer who was currently threatening her.

Lucy's heart nearly broke at the sight of the girl. Only moments ago, she had been a ferocious and vicious fighter. Now she looked just as Lucy would imagine a little girl to look when faced with such an overwhelming character as Natsu Dragneel. It was almost pathetic, and Lucy felt the urge to run over and sweep the mage slayer into her arms. Maternal instincts, she supposed.

Instead, she walked over to Natsu and placed a calming hand on his shoulder. He glanced at her, obviously unsure what to do in such a situation as this. "Leave her alone, Natsu. She's scared to death."

His eyes softened as he held her gaze, and eventually, he extinguished the fire that was gushing out of his hands. The pair looked back to Alea just in time to see her hastily requip into Erza's flight armor and dart away so fast, no one could even begin to process what was happening before the girl was long gone, disappeared into the trees. All was eerily quiet once more until the team realized what had just happened. The little demon had run away.

"Oi!" Natsu and Gray yelled in unison. Lucy simply stared after her, unmoving, while Erza tried to requip into something, anything, but failed due to her lack of magic.

"Dammit!" the scarlet-haired mage bellowed in frustration.

"Come on, Happy!" Natsu said, his voice urgent. "We can find her if we have an aerial view. Let's go!"

Erza stepped toward Natsu, her eyes hard and cold as stone. "You'll never find her while she's wearing that armor. Depending on her magical endurance, she could be halfway across Fiore by now." Natsu's eye twitched in annoyance at being told not to do something. "Besides, I'm in no condition to fight, and Lucy needs medical attention immediately."

Lucy shook her head in her defence. "No, I don't. I really feel fine. We came out here to do a job, and Fairy Tail mages always keep their promises." She beamed brightly, though she suspected everyone could tell how forced it was.

Natsu regarded Lucy skeptically. She hoped he couldn't somehow sense just how much her body was aching or how much she was longing to crumple to the floor and sleep for about a month or so. She gave him another tight smile.

He returned the smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Let's head back to the guild, then. We can search her out when you're feeling better, Luce."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head before she could say anything. "I know when you're lying, Lucy. Give me _some_ credit. You look like hell."

The blonde promptly stomped on his foot, causing the dragon slayer to howl in pain. "You don't have to point it out! My clothes are all torn and my hair's all frizzy; of course I look like hell!"

He gave her a grin, holding his hand up in defeat. "Okay, okay. Let's head back so you- er, so we can all get cleaned up."

Gray chuckled. "Beat up by two little girls in one day? Best day of my life."

Lucy made sure Gray's foot hurt even more.

The walk to the guild had been quiet, with Erza often calling for them to rest. Gray had given her his shirt (as he would have stripped anyway) and she had managed to requip a simple skirt, though she had to sit out of exhaustion from the effort it took. Lucy focused on not crying out in pain with every step she took, though her muscles were screaming and her head was spinning.

Natsu entered the guild with his usual exuberance, and as soon as the team walked through the doors, their guildmates bombarded them with questions.

"Yo!" Cana shouted. "Did you guys get the reward money? Seven million jewels! Lucy, you'll buy me booze with it, yeah?"

"Locking up a criminal is a man!" Elfman yelled. "What'd you do with that mage?"

"Gray-sama!" Juvia called. "It was so lonely here without you!"

"Get a load of this," Gray said, smirking. "Natsu got kicked in the face by a little girl! You should have seen it; it was hilarious."

Max appeared in front of Erza. "You guys look worn out."

The requip mage nodded. "We were unable to capture the mage." Everyone in the guild groaned. " She used a… peculiar kind of magic. She ran off and we couldn't go after her."

Levy went straight to Lucy, concern evident in her eyes. "Lucy, are you alright?"

The blonde waved her hand dismissively. "I'm fine. I just need a little rest and I should be back to normal-"

"She's lying." Natsu's voice interrupted casually. "Where's Wendy? She needs to patch Luce and Erza up."

The smallest of the dragon slayers rose from the bench on which she was sitting, her eyes wide at the ragged state the returning team was in. Before anyone could utter a word, Wendy's hands began to glow softly and she placed them on Erza's body.

Erza gave a small sigh of relief, and she smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Wendy."

The bluenette nodded. "You lost quite a lot of magic. I'm able to restore some of it, but only rest and recuperation can bring it all back. It shouldn't take too long. You're very strong, Erza-san, so I'd say you'll be back to normal in a couple days." Erza blushed.

Wendy did the same to Lucy, and the blonde gave a yelp when she ran her hands over her torso. The sky dragon slayer frowned. "Cracked rib. Also, you were very close to experiencing Magic Deficiency Syndrome. You lost even more magic than Erza-san. Again, I've restored a bit of it, but you'll need at least a week to gain it all back."

Lucy felt almost instantly better from Wendy's healing magic, though she still felt a bit sore. "Thanks, Wendy." The little girl smiled bashfully. It was amazing how fast she was able to switch from a shy, adorable girl to a serious, professional nurse.

"Hey, Wendy, you think you can patch my foot up?" Gray spoke. "It took a fair beating." He shot Lucy an accusatory glare. She stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

"Where's Gramps?" Natsu inquired. "I want to talk to him about… something."

Lucy knew her pink-haired partner was more concerned than he let on about what Alea said before running away. She herself was worried herself. She knew E.N.D. was an incredibly dangerous demon straight out of the Book of Zeref. Even the monsters the guild fought a year ago, the Nine Demon Gates, were terrified of E.N.D., and so was she. Lucy had too many nightmares of what the demon could possibly look like and how powerful it could be. She never imagined it to have wild pink hair and a boyish grin.

"At a council meeting," Cana answered. "Laxus single handedly destroyed an entire town." She snickered and Natsu nodded, looking grim.

"Let's get home Luce," he said, searching her for any signs of weariness. "You can sleep on the couch and I'll sleep in your bed. I'm pretty tired myself. And hungry. You got any more food in the house?" The celestial mage conked him on the head.

"We'll come too," Erza suggested. "I'd like to discuss the mission."

"Sure," Gray said. "I could use a bath." And a conk on the head for him.

 **SO SORRY for the late update! I had a terminal case of writer's block, and then my internet went out. :( I'm working on another fanfic at the moment, a Peter Pan AU, so hopefully I can get that up as soon as possible. Also, sorry for this pretty uneventful chapter. I'm going to try to incorporate more Nalu moments in the chapters yet to come. :) Thanks for reading!**


End file.
